DISCLAIMER: HEllloooo thank you for the many many reviews, y'all have motivated the heck out of me. PLS KEEP REVIEWING, I wrote this with a headache with not too much editing, Soooooo please remind me of any screw ups I made!

Amy walks to her house happily, feeling as if a whole weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

It's 7.30pm, and she is considering what to have for dinner.

She arrives at her house, and theres a dark shadowy figure waiting for her at her door...

Shadow? She thinks to herself excitedly. Why does the idea of Shadow being here to see me excite me? He's just... a counsellor.

But to her surprise, it is Sonic - a weak Sonic, helpless and remorseful.

"Ames," he says, as Amy approaches her door with indifference. "Amy, I'm so sorry. I don't want to offend you like that, ever. You're my friend, and-"

"That's right, Sonic," She says, not allowing him to ruin her mood, "you're my friend. And I know you didn't mean it - there's no need to reassure me... So, you can go now."

Both Sonic and Amy are shocked at her sudden confidence.

What the? Sonic thinks to himself, feeling some kind of burning under his skin. "Uhh, okay. Do you want me to hang out? We could have dinner." What am I saying?!

"Sonic... Thats okay. Bye." She walks inside and shuts the door in his face, leaving Sonic a confused, dismantled mess of emotion.

Maybe I should be seeing Shadow too...

I sure as heck need some help with my feelings...

Taking out my distress on Amy doesn't do anything, and it sure doesn't put her where I want her to be.

But would it be any other way? Her safety...

My safety... It's so much better to keep a distance...

Argh.

Sonic walks away slowly, turning around to look if Amy had opened the door again several times.

Never had he felt so much rejection, especially from his number one fan, or, so she used to be.

Get a hold of yourself, Sonic.

Amy smiles sitting on her purple couch, proud of her behaviour. She found it amazing how simply explaining to someone what was happening had helped her see the situation in a different way...

She was sick of Sonic's jokes, and didn't have to put up with it if she didn't want to. While she valued his friendship and thought he was a good person, she had a choice, she had value.

And Shadow had helped her see that...

That was the last thing she'd expected.

####

THE NEXT DAY

The group are back on the beach, playing volleyball peacefully - all except for Amy. Sonic is distracted by worry that something had happened to her, but doesn't express himself, as he knew that doing so would reveal to his friends his true feelings...

Or maybe it wouldn't? He was allowed to care about her. But after she rejected him last night..

.Sometime later, Amy arrives on the beach with a cute flower dress and bathers underneath. "Hey guys!" She said, not stopping to meet Sonic's gaze. "It's a wonderful day. Is anyone up for a swim?"

Knuckles shrugs, passing the volleyball to Tails; Tails smiles and nods at Amy: "Sure, Amy! I wouldn't mind a swim.", followed by Sticks.

"Well, I'd love to go for a swim with you Amy," Sticks says throwing the ball to Amy, "But I'm pretty sure they have some underwater camera devices in there, deep in the ocean floor, spying on us. Ya can't trust em! Oh, and also, I don't want to drown. Why don't you ask Sonic?"

Amy stares at Sonic, who has his arms crossed with embarrassment. "I can't swim." Sonic whispers, to which Sticks gestures him to repeat himself.

"I can't SWIM, Sticks."

"Yeah," Knuckles says, laughing. "He can run at Sonic speed, but our favourite ocean blue hero can't swim. What a coincidence!"

"The word you're looking for is ironic," Amy says, her eyelids lowering, and she sighs. "It's okay. I'm not going to tease you for not being able to swim, Sonic. Tails, let's get our splash on!"

Tails smiles and joins Amy as she steps into the water. She removes her outer layer revealing a bright swim suit, clutching to her body perfectly. Sonic sits down in a beach chair and tries not to look, but he can't help it; and each time he looks, he furiously shouts at himself mentally: STOP!

As Sonic watches Amy and Tails swimming, he hears a voice come up from behind him - an unfamiliar one at first, but the recognition hits him suddenly, as does a rage of jealousy...

"Faker," Shadow says smugly, sitting next to him. "Enjoying the view, I see."

"Blue is a nice colour." Sonic replies, ignoring Shadow's attempt at cynical humour. "What do you want, Shadow? Recruiting Amy wasn't enough for you?"

Shadow smiles and makes eye contact with Sonic. "I came to see how Amy is. To check if she's doing well since seeing me."

Sonic's heart sinks as he looks to the ground, attempting to control himself. Is he trying to drive me crazy?

"I see," Sonic replies, still looking at the ground.

"So do I," Shadow replies, looking at a happy Amy in the ocean with one of her friends. "Catch ya, Sonic. Oh, and don't run too fast... I think we both know what happens when you show a bit too much interest."

Shadow teleports out of the beach, leaving Sonic blushing and breathing heavily, as well as speechless. What the heck is he on about? Does he mean Amy's history with me...?

Not today Shadow...

Sonic groans and tries to read a book, but is constantly distracted by Amy's beautiful presence. Her peachy and pink fur reflecting in the sunlight and distorting in the water, her gorgeous green eyes, and her stunning body is just too much for him to not pay attention to...

He lays back with his book covering most of his face, hoping Amy won't notice that he's secretly looking. But Amy notices and walks over.

"Sonic," She says, disappointed.

Damn it. She got me.

"I know you want to get in the water. Come on, Tails and I will help you!"

Sonic smirks and puts his book down, putting on his fake charm. "Ha, I'm too cool for the water Amy... you know that.." Amy shakes her head in annoyance and Sonic quickly remarks, "B-but, yeah, I'll come for a swim, if you guys will help."

Amy smiles kindly and offers her hand. Sonic's heart skips a beat at the thought of touching her... Something that had never happened to him before... and joins her in the water. Amy practically dances her way in to the water, disrupting Tails' floating zen, and yells, "I convinced him Tails! We are gonna teach him! You gon learn today, Sonic!" Amy laughs and Tails smiles, to which Sonic stays expressionless. His shoes are off but the water barely makes it to his knees.

"Geez, Sonic. You really are scared. Look, there's no waves or anything. You'll be fine," Tails says, trying to comfort his best friend. "Besides, I can dive in and save you otherwise. I sure have before."

Sonic smiles nervously as Amy and Tails grin at each other, dragging Sonic in to the water. "Damn it! I can't run backwards! Agggh! Stop!" He laughs and falls into the water with them, his spikes becoming flat, and his body freezing. "Why do you guys enjoy this? It's freezing here. You'd think I'd adjusted as I never wear clothes, but... this is a whole new level of cold."

Amy giggles and twirls in the water, making Sonic's heart flutter, but then sink, realising that Shadow was infact the main reason she was acting this way. why can't I make her feel this happy?

Didn't I used to?

I apologised for what I said... but why can't she forgive me?

I need a second opinion...